Review of How to Train Your Dragon (2010) by Jan K — 22 Jun 2014

There are many advantages of being an animator. Yes, it may be tedious to edit every single frame until it is perfect, yet the very fact that movie makers have this power is mind boggling. Without having to set up on the most dangerous mountaintops (or the most expensive villas), there is an opportunity to compose shots that are entirely impossible to execute in live action. Given the rising popularity of 3D moviemaking with such films as Avatar and Gravity, it is possible to transport viewers into entirely different faraway worlds.

Not only does How to Train Your Dragon use these advantages to create out of body experiences more effective than either of those films; it also has a story.

Now this story has been told a number of times very similarly (think Dances with Wolves or Pocahontas, or yes, Avatar), and because of that, maybe I should hate this movie. Yet every single character has relatable dilemmas and unique ways of confronting them for better or worse that makes them entirely relatable. Take Hiccup and his relationship with his father, Stoick. Hiccup, who has always wanted to become a great viking dragon-slayer like his father, suddenly becomes unsure, as he has befriended a wounded dragon that he injured in a battle with a horde of dragons. Stoick, who was once embarrassed by his son's incompetency to fight, seems excited to give him a chance to prove himself in the ring, and enrolls Hiccup in dragon fighting school against his son's will. Hiccup loves his father, but he is intimidated by him, and keeps away from him most of the time. At the same time, Stoick wants the best for Hiccup, yet he doesn't know how to give that to him, and finds that the best way to parent is by exerting his professions and prejudices on Hiccup. These are only two examples of immaculately fleshed out characters, proving that the real 3D comes from the personalities and actions of each individual.

I would be amiss not to mention the detail present in the main dragon Toothless. Every time that he appeared on screen, it seemed as if he were communicating straight to me. His stare can be incredibly commanding in some scenes, while irresistibly cute in others. His chemistry with Hiccup made me believe dragons exist.

It would be easy enough for How to Train Your Dragon to plod about for three hours saying, "look how pretty I am!" However, rather than tiring itself out on it's special effects, the movie opts for a brisk hour and a half run time that packs many wallops of action, laughs, and heart. This proves to be a favor, allowing the story to pace steadily along without dragging, and highlight it's animation I have ever seen without it dictating the entire film. I never got bored by any second of this movie.

Speaking of animation, this has some of the most beautiful animation that I have seen since Finding Nemo. The pinnacle is of course the flying scene involving Hiccup showing his sort-of girlfriend Astrid around the caverns of Berk. Boasted by one of the most majestic scores that I have heard in a while, this scene tells a story in itself, reminding me of the format used for Walt Disney's masterpiece "Fantasia." I never thought I could cry pure joy from a shot but after this scene I felt a single tear drop from my eye. This feeling is as fresh as the awe I experienced when Dorothy arrived in Oz or when Spiderman first swung effortlessly from building to building on the big screen. The 3D only makes it more lively.

I never thought that Dreamworks could possibly rival Pixar's consistent quality, yet this is in fact better than most pixar films that I have seen, and is up there with their best. The imagination involved in the creation of this universe rivals some of the greatest worlds projected by Star Wars or Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings. Even with it's all-to-familiar story, it is entirely fresh, making it the most pleasantly surprising movie I have ever seen.